Anbu Records: Red Wolf
by sailorstorms
Summary: Ongoing adventures of Red Wolf and his Anbu team. My first (published) story, so please R&R! Rated "T" to be safe!
1. Red Wolf

Record # 22

"nnngh," he groaned as he tried to crawl a little further towards the arranged spot. He had completed his mission, though it was close. The blood was flowing so quickly now that a large puddle had formed where he had stopped to rest for a minute. He knew he had little time to get to that clearing before the others would arrive to meet him. He had to get moving, he had to get there…..


	2. Where is he?

"He should have been here by now," the one with the Grey Wolf mask said, "this is very unusual for him."

"Calm down, he might have had to wait for his target, or may have had some trouble taking them down," the Black Dog masked one reasoned.

"As long as he gets here soon. I'm starting to get hungry!" This came from the portly Brown Dog mask, rubbing his stomach.

"You're always hungry" the other two replied. At this, Brown Dog made a pouting noise, and sat down at the base of an old oak tree. Black Dog smiled behind her mask, while Grey Wolf was doubled over, shaking from trying to stifle her laughter. After watching her for a few minutes, Black Dog walked to the other side of the clearing and studied the bark of the oak in front of her. She wouldn't admit it to the others, but she was feeling uneasy from the prolonged absence of their last teammate. Normally, he was the first to arrive at these meeting places, and joking that "it had taken them long enough" to get there. She was so distracted by her unease that she almost missed the sound of leaves rustling not too far away.

She went alert instantly, a kunai in her right hand and her left hand signaling the others that something, or someone, was nearby. The other two became alert, slipping kunais into their hands as well. They joined her, Grey Wolf with her back to the other two, keeping an eye out for a possible ambush from behind.

When the others were set, Black Dog cautiously made her way towards the sound, kunai at the ready in front of her face. The others followed her, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. As they came nearer, Black Dog began to hear what sounded like groaning, until they were near enough for her to recognize the voice behind the groans. 'Oh no!' she thought as she moved faster, ignoring her training completely, when the noises suddenly stopped.


	3. Fading

He groaned painfully, his body now feeling heavier each time he tried to move. He was near the clearing, he was sure of it, and getting to the clearing meant getting to help. This thought was the only thing that had kept him going for as long as he had. As he stopped again to rest for a minute, he imagined he could hear Brown Dog's usual complaint of being hungry, and Black Dog and Grey Wolf's combined reply of "you're always hungry!" nearby. He tried to get his body moving again, knowing that they wouldn't come looking for him until it was too late. He managed to get his left leg near his waist, ready to push him forward slightly more, groaning from how painful it had become to do such a simple thing. He slid his arm over his head, pushing his mask off completely; hoping the pressure on the back of his head would be enough to help the pain subside a little. He removed it from his head and stretched it in front of him, ready to pull as his leg pushed. He braced his left arm near his waist, and started to try to push himself up and forward, making it a few more feet before falling back down and forcing himself to get into position again. His vision suddenly became much darker, but he tried to rise, telling himself he needed to move one more time. He fell right back down, and his ears faintly heard his name called out as everything faded to black.


	4. Help

"Red Wolf!" Black Dog had exclaimed upon seeing him trying to rise, just to fall and be still, eyes closed. She rushed to his side as Grey Wolf pulled out her medi-kit.

Grey Wolf tossed the medi-kit beside the still Red Wolf and started weaving the signs to do a diagnosis jutsu. She quietly hovered her hands inches over his body and made a mental not of the major injuries that would need attention right away. When her diagnosis was complete, she started trying to heal the injury to his right side, and instructed Brown Dog to start making a stretcher and Black Dog to send a message back to the village, informing them that a medical team would need to meet them on the way home, as his injuries were too severe for her to treat alone.

When she had managed to stop him from bleeding, she expertly inserted an i.v. and hooked up a bag of blood. They all carefully lifted him onto the stretcher, Black Dog taking the end near his feet, and Brown Dog the end near his head, with Grey Wolf holding the blood bag slightly above the stretcher. They lifted it off the ground, and took off as quickly as they could, headed back to Konoha. They would stop on occasion to catch their breath, and Grey Wolf would check Red Wolf's vitals, performing what healing she could before they would start again.

They were met about 8 kilometers from the village by the medical team, who took over carrying him for the remainder of the trip. When they arrived in the village, the medical team took Red Wolf towards the hospital, while the rest of the group went to report to the Hokage on the status of the mission. After telling him what they could, they waited for him to speak.

"It seems that we will have to wait to see if the mission was a complete success, but considering that he is still even alive, I think we can assume that it was. Thank you for your hard work, but I believe that there is somewhere else that you should be right now. Go to his side, and know that my thoughts are with him."

"Thank you, Lord Third. We shall go immediately," Black Dog said as they bowed and left quickly.

The three stopped at Black Dog's home and dropped off their masks, as it was unnecessary to wear them when not on missions or training. They then utilized the rooftops in order to get to the hospital faster. Upon arrival, Grey Wolf went to the counter and talked to those on duty to see if there had been any news on Red Wolf's condition. She motioned for the others to follow her, and led them to some seats outside of an operating room.

"They said his injuries were quite extensive and that he lost almost too much blood. If we hadn't found and started treating him when we did, he would have died."

"Will he be alright, Grey?"

"The medics are doing all they can. Besides, he's young and tough. They have high hopes for him to make it, but it's going to be a long and rough recovery."

"Well, I guess the only thing we can do is sit and wait."

They all sat down on the bench, Black Dog and Grey Wolf keeping an eye on the red light that indicated that surgery was still in progress. After several silent minutes, Brown Dog's stomach growled, and he said "I'm hungry," as he patted his stomach.

Both ladies smiled as they said, "you're always hungry!" together. Then a loud rumble came out of Black Dog's stomach followed by an equally loud one from Grey Wolf's. They both looked down at their stomachs, then at each other before bursting out laughing. Brown Dog joined in, and they all laughed for several minutes.

As soon as he could catch his breath, Brown Dog told them he would go get something for them all to eat, and took off. The ladies watched him go, before they burst out in a new round of loud laughter that brought a medic to the door to shush them. They apologized, and then asked how things were going. They were relieved when they were told they were almost done and that Red Wolf would make a full recovery. They thanked the medic, who returned inside as the ladies made their way back to the bench.

Brown Dog returned soon after with the promised food, and they ate while telling him the good news. As they finished, the red light went out, the doors opened, and the medics wheeled him out. The same medic from earlier told them that he would be under intensive care until his wounds had more time to heal, but he would be able to have visitors after he woke up. With the room number given to them, they thanked the medic again and walked out of the hospital, agreeing that Red Wolf would need his rest more than company. After picking up their masks from Black Dog's, they went their own ways, promising to meet at the hospital again in a few hours.


	5. Promises

It was too bright, even with his eyes closed. Too bright and too…cold. He tried to bring his arms closer to his chest, but it really hurt to do so, and there was some sort of tubing attached to his right arm, so he let them fall again. He finally managed to get his normal eye open, and he stared at his arm until the fuzzy mess cleared enough for him to see that it was an i.v. line. He slowly took in his surroundings; bright windows, white walls, white ceiling, white bed and sheets with metal rails. 'Here we are again. You know, we need to stop waking up to this same scene so much' he thought to himself as he shivered once again.

He felt a blanket being laid gently over him. "Grey Wolf, everyone, I thought that I would never see your faces again," he said as he noticed his other teammates sitting around him.

"We thought that this time, we had truly lost you." Brown Dog said as he finished his chips and stored the bag for later disposal.

"Fortunately, the medics in this village are top notch, especially Grey," added Black Dog.

They all nodded their heads at that, and a comfortable silence fell over them, broken only by the occasional crunch of a chip in Brown Dog's mouth. Red Wolf smiled at how easily things had gone back to normal after this mission, and only became serious when the Hokage came in to find out if his part of the mission was completed successfully, then they were told that everyone had done a good job and that he should rest so he could recover quickly. Black and Brown Dog both left with the Hokage, leaving Grey Wolf and him alone for a few minutes.

She gently stroked his hair and hummed for some time; he let her go, and was almost asleep from it when her words woke him up; "please, Kakashi, don't scare me like that again."

He gently caressed her cheek before replying, "I'm sorry, Rin. I promise I'll be more careful from now on."  
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

'I should have made you promise the same,' he thought as he stared at the memorial, a tear running down his cheek, joining the rain that continued to pour over him today.


End file.
